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The trip back to Bradley Base took less time because Shiloh felt it was safe to take longer jumps and therefore less frequent refueling stops. The crews were happier too. Less risk of enemy contact also meant that 3rd Fleet could refuel using the supersonic method which was longer in duration, but much more comfortable. When 3rd Fleet emerged from its final microjump at the edge of the Bradley Base gas giant’s gravity field, Shiloh was on the Bridge in case there were any messages from either Korolev or HQ waiting for him. Tanaka had the local space up on the tactical display, and Shiloh noticed that the moon with Bradley Base on it was now in the gas giant’s shadow — the exact opposite to what it had been when the aliens had attempted to destroy the base and when Angela almost got killed in an ambush. An ambush by ships hiding in the GG’s shadow. That thought came as a surprise. Why would he focus on that one parameter? Before he could pursue that line of thinking any further, the Bridge dissolved from his field of vision to be replaced by Korolev’s image on what had to be the main display. But that was all Shiloh was seeing, just the display and nothing else.
"Damage to the Base is serious but not critical. We won’t have to abandon the Base thanks to your warning. I still don’t know why you decided to deploy those recon drones when you did, but if you hadn’t, I and a lot of others would most likely be dead now."
The image dissolved, and he was looking at Defiant’s full Bridge again. He quickly checked the tactical display with a new question in mind. What should 3rd Fleet do to confirm the presence and location of a suspected alien attack force? If the gas giant was at the center of a clock, the base moon would be at the 6 o’clock position. This system’s sun would be at 12 o’clock, which left the moon in the gas giant’s shadow. 3rd Fleet was approaching on an angle that was roughly 5 o’clock, relative to the gas giant. Distance to the base moon was still more than 35 million km. The Base’s jump detection patrols would have detected their emergence from Jumpspace and Shiloh could see from the sidebar indicator that Defiant had already sent the recognition signal to the Base, which it wouldn’t receive for another 1.8 minutes. 3rd Fleet itself wasn’t in the shadow and Shiloh could roughly estimate visually that the Fleet was approximately 2 million km from the edge of the shadow zone. Any enemy force in the shadow zone could already be closer to the Base than 3rd Fleet was, but it could also still be further away since it would have had to emerge from Jumpspace much further out in order to avoid detection. That left a huge volume of space where they could be hiding. The shadow zone was a circle that had an internal volume of billions of square kilometers and when you added the length of the shadow out into deep space, you were now talking about a significant volume of space.
The vision had left him with a strong sense of urgency. He quickly stepped over to the Command Station where Tanaka was seated and reached across her body to hit the virtual button, which would send the Fleet to Yellow Alert. Before the startled woman could ask him what was going on, he said, “No time to explain now. Arrange to have the Fleet Communications Net tied into my implant. I need to issue orders fast.”
Tanaka recovered from her surprise quickly and used her station to arrange for Shiloh’s throat mic and ear implant to put him in direct voice contact with all ship COs, CAGs and Squadron Leaders.
When she looked up and nodded, he said, “This is the Admiral. I have reason to believe that an alien force is using the gas giant’s shadow to sneak into attack range of the Base. This is what we’re going to do right now! I want all squadrons brought to flight readiness armed with Mark 1s. Fighters that are already on alert status can keep their current payload. Tumbleweed, I want you to generate a recon drone deployment plan that can be launched from 3rd Fleet ships, which will have the highest probability of detecting an enemy force regardless of whether they are further out or closer to Bradley Base than we are now. I want the drones to go to active scanning as soon as they enter the shadow zone. Our ships will continue to use passive scanning only. I’ll be ordering a course change shortly so be ready for it. We’re not going to Battle Stations just yet, but be ready for that too. Tumbleweed will take command of all fighters as soon as they’re launched but we’ll keep them aboard for now. All ships will cease communications with the Base until further orders. That’s all for now. Shiloh clear.”
With that initial set of orders out of the way, Shiloh returned to the spare chair and put on the special gloves and the Command Helmet. When he was seated, strapped in and had the gloves and helmet on, he brought his virtual display online with Fleet status indicators on his screen. All ships were now at Yellow Alert. 12 fighters on Alert Status were ready for immediate launch with a mixed load of recon and attack drones. The rest of the fighters were still in the process of being loaded. Shiloh activated the voice channel to Tumbleweed.
“What have you got for me, Tumbleweed?” asked Shiloh.
“You should have the recon deployment plan now, Admiral.”
A flashing yellow light indicated an incoming data transmission from Tumbleweed. Shiloh used his hands to let him see the plan visually. Each of the nine ships would fire a dozen recon drones. Each dozen drones would accelerate at maximum and aim for a specific area of the shadow zone ranging all the way from much farther out, to slightly farther out, to slightly closer in, to much closer in. The drones aimed at farther out and farther in would have the longest distances to go and take the longest time to get there. Visually, the shadow zone looked like a tunnel and once inside, each wave of recon drones would move along the tunnel with 4 waves moving further away from the base moon, 4 waves moving towards it and one wave taking up a stationary position at roughly the same distance from the Base as 3rd Fleet was now. Shiloh tapped two virtual buttons in mid-air to disseminate the plan to all ships and to execute the plan immediately.
“Very good, Tumbleweed, now listen to me. I’ve just had another vision. As a result of that vision, I have a strong suspicion that this alien force came here from Zebra12. They probably passed us while we were in Jumpspace. I therefore don’t think they detected us and I don’t want them to see any of 3rd Fleet’s ships because that might make them suspicious of what really happened at Zebra12 and I want them to continue to think that they destroyed all of the ships sent there. So your fighters are going to have to deal with this incursion without any fire support from the rest of 3rd Fleet. If at all possible, I want you to maneuver your fighters prior to contact with the enemy in such as way as to make them think your fighters came from the Base. As soon as we detect the enemy, I’ll warn the Base. When you and your boys are launched, you’ll have complete discretion on how you handle the battle. Just keep me in the loop. Any questions?”
“Yes, Admiral. Do we ram the enemy if we get the opportunity?”
That made Shiloh pause. His gut impulse was to say no but maybe that wasn’t the smartest choice. What would he say if a human pilot asked him that?
“Not unless I expressly order it. The Base’s fighters will get enough warning to make their own interception. If anyone has to ram, it’ll more likely have to be those boys. I’m hoping we can stop this attack without having to resort to that tactic. Any other questions?”
“No questions, Admiral. I understand what you need from us, but I do have a suggestion.”
“I’m listening,” said Shiloh.
“If we launch as soon as possible, it’ll give us more time to reposition the fighter force into the shadow zone to reinforce the impression that we came from the Base.”
It seemed like a reasonable idea. Shiloh nodded and said, “As soon as each squadron is ready, they can launch but until we know where the enemy is, I want the fighters to stay on station with Defiant.”
“Roger that. It’ll be nice to be able to shoot at them for a change, Admiral. Running that gauntlet at Z12D was no fun.”
“Understood. Good hunting, Tumbleweed. Shiloh clear.”
As he waited for the fighters to finish loading, Shiloh asked for and received a recommended course change that would bring the Fleet parallel with the shadow tunnel. Far enough away from it to avoid being detected by enemy radar, but close enough to launch more drones into it, if necessary.
When the Base responded to the Fleet’s recognition signal, it was with a slightly bored sounding, standard voice message welcoming them back to Bradley Base. Shiloh decided there was no point in waiting any further before advising Korolev of the situation.
“Admiral Shiloh to Commander Korolev. I have reason to believe that the Base may be attacked again very soon and by that I mean in a few hours or less. I want you to prepare any fighters, that aren’t on jump patrol, for a full combat load of Mark 1s and launch them directly into the gas giant’s shadow. That’s the direction that I believe the enemy force will be coming from. I’m deploying a series of recon drone skirmish lines in the shadow zone further out. As soon as I get confirmation of enemy strength, position and speed, I’ll pass that on. My fighters are preparing to engage the enemy. I think between the two of us, we can stop them. End of message.”
With that message sent, Shiloh returned his attention to the tactical display. The wave of drones headed directly for the shadow zone at its closest point was STILL over a million km away from it. Shiloh resisted the urge to pound the armrest of his chair in frustration. Even with an acceleration rate of 260 Gs, the recon drones would still need the better part of an hour to get into a position where they could even start scanning with radar. Add to that the fact that they weren’t carrying enough fuel to continue accelerating at that pace indefinitely and you had a situation where it could take hours to sweep a significant portion of the shadow tunnel near the base. As each wave of drones took up its position inside the tunnel, it would continue to accelerate along the length of the tunnel until its fuel reserves reached a predetermined minimum, which would be enough to power its electronics for a maximum of 12 hours while the drone coasted. Five minutes later, Korolev sent a voice message back.
“Shiloh? I’m not going to launch my reserve fighters and send them off on a wild goose chase along the gas giant’s shadow just on your hunch. If there is an attack on the way, it could come from any direction. I’ll get my fighters loaded for bear but they’re staying in the Hangar Bay and I’ll launch them when and IF there’s a reliable contact report. End of message.”
Shiloh swore with a surge of rage. His right hand punched the point in the air that appeared in his helmet to be the record button for another voice transmission.
“Shiloh to Korolev! My last message was NOT a request! It was a Goddamn order and since I outrank you, you WILL obey it! If your reserve fighters aren’t launched with full combat loads within five minutes of receipt of this message, I’ll relieve you of command and order your CAG to take charge! Get your ass moving, Commander! End of message.” Five minutes later, he got the reply that he was expecting.
“Korolev to Fleet Commander. My reserve fighters will launch and proceed as ordered as soon as they’re ready. Should I pull in my patrol fighters and rearm them as well? End of message.”
“Shiloh to Korolev. Keep your jump patrol on station for the time being but advise them of the situation. End of message.”
Korolev’s capitulation was a welcome development. Shiloh hadn’t been bluffing when he threatened to relieve Korolev of command, but he wasn’t quite certain if he really had the authority to do that. Now he wouldn’t have to find out.
After a nerve-wracking hour and eleven minutes since his vision, the outer most waves of drones made contact. The contact data made Shiloh’s jaw drop. 34 enemy ships were coming down the shadow tunnel but it wasn’t the number of ships that shocked him. It was their speed. They were coming at just over 75,000 kilometers per second! That was 25% of the speed of light. That explained how the enemy fleet could get to this system first and only now be approaching the base moon. In order to reach that speed, they needed to accelerate for a long time and that extra time allowed 3rd Fleet to catch up to this system. At that speed, those ships would pass 3rd Fleet within 15 minutes and reach the Base 13 1/3 minutes after that. At least there was enough time for Tumbleweed’s fighters to get into the shadow tunnel in front of the enemy. On the other hand, very few of Korolev’s fighters on jump patrol, would have time to land and rearm with a full combat load of Mark 1s. Those, that could get within attack range at all, would have to make do with their standard patrol load of two recon drones and two attack drones. Shiloh sent Tumbleweed’s squadrons on their way and then recorded another message for Korolev. With that message sent and a constant stream of tactical data being transmitted to the Base, all he could do now was wait. Tumbleweed would keep in com laser contact with Defiant so Shiloh would know what was happening although it would be with a six second light speed lag due to the one point six million km distance between the Fleet and where the fighters would be by the time the enemy fleet reached them.
Tumbleweed advised Shiloh of his tactical plan. It was simple in theory but only an A.I. could react at the electronic speeds that were fast enough to make it work. Each squadron took up a position so that the three of them formed a triangle with each side being 10 km long and with the last known projected path of the alien fleet passing through the center of the triangle. Each squadron included four fighters, which had been on alert status and had one recon drone each. Shiloh watched as those 12 recon drones were launched towards the enemy fleet in intervals of one drone every 15 seconds. If the enemy fleet maintained its last known course, it would run into a swarm of Mark 1 attack drones, fired from almost directly in its path at literally the last second. With too many drones and not enough time to defend against them, the enemy fleet should in theory be wiped out completely. The recon drones would provide last minute updates on the enemy’s course. Shiloh watched the tactical display intently. It was zoomed in to the small volume of space that the recon drones and fighters were in.
The display pinged for attention. Shiloh saw the status change immediately. The enemy fleet HAD changed course although not by much. At the speeds they were going, any course changes would be slight but this new course would put that fleet outside the triangle when it reached them. Each recon drone was destroyed almost as soon as the enemy detected it but the data sent back was enough to allow Tumbleweed to evaluate his options with the precision that only A.I.s could achieve. The distance between the enemy fleet and the fighters was now less than a quarter of a million kms which meant that they would pass each other in less than four seconds. Before Shiloh could even formulate a question in his mind, the squadron that would be nearest to the enemy as they passed by, fired all its Mark 1 attack drones. The other squadrons were too far away to have any chance at a drone interception. Even at 800 Gs acceleration, those 100 drones had barely enough time to move sideways to a point directly in the enemy’s new path where the enemy ships were expected to be by the time the drones got there. Shiloh knew that their terminal guidance radars would only have a fraction of a second to make final course corrections. He groaned when the display revealed that the enemy fleet was now also actively scanning. That meant that the fighters would be detected and worse, the drones would be too due to the fact that by moving sideways across the enemy’s path, the drones were being hit by radar energy along their sides instead of from their front. Being long and narrow meant that they were much easier to detect from the side.
The interception was over before Shiloh could do or say anything. 16 enemy icons disappeared, as did 19 fighters. When Shiloh replayed the interception in ultra slow motion later, he learned that 66 attack drones simply missed and 15 were destroyed by enemy laser fire, as were the 19 fighters.
As far as 3rd Fleet was concerned, their battle was over. There was no way that the ships could get close enough now to fire lasers at the 18 remaining enemy ships and any attack drones fired now by the other two squadrons, would never catch up to the enemy. It was now up to Korolev’s fighters. The reserve force of 10 fighters plus the 4 patrol fighters that were close enough to join them were already in the shadow tunnel and could maneuver into the enemy’s path in order to perform the same kind of point blank range interception that Tumbleweed had attempted. The only question now was would the enemy change course again? The Base fighters had 8 recon drones which were also being launched in precise intervals but as Shiloh looked closely at the tactical display, he noticed that the four waves of recon drones launched by 3rd Fleet earlier, which had been heading down the shadow tunnel towards the base moon, were now coasting and were actively scanning behind them. That meant that the enemy ships would, with their much greater speed, overrun those waves and be detected. Any course changes that fleet tried to make would be detected early enough that Korolev’s fighters could reposition themselves to the best spot.
“Who ordered the recon drones approaching the Base to scan behind them?” asked Shiloh.
After a short pause, Tanaka answered. “Tumbleweed sent the order to those drones the moment we picked up our first contact, Sir. Shall I countermand that order?”
“God no! He did the right thing! Are we still sending tactical data to the Base?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Very good. I want to talk with Tumbleweed.”
“Ah, Falkenberg here, Sir. Tumbleweed’s fighter was destroyed by enemy fire. Vandal has taken over command of the fighter force. Shall I open a channel to him, Sir?”
Damn! Shiloh closed his eyes and let the sadness wash over him. Another one of Iceman’s boys gone. It dawned on him that if Iceman had been part of 3rd Fleet, it was entirely possible that Iceman’s fighter would have been destroyed. Iceman’s vision and the outcome of the battle at Zebra12 now took on a new light. It seemed as though everything was happening as it was supposed to. The battle at Zebra12 wasn’t a fluke after all. In Iceman’s vision, Shiloh had told him that it was a good thing he wasn’t part of the Zebra19 mission. Everyone had assumed that meant a battle at or – as it turned out – near Zebra19. The battle here at Bradley Base was just the return portion of the whole Zebra19 mission.
“Yes,” Shiloh answered.
“Go ahead, Sir.”
“Shiloh to Vandal. Bring your boys home. Tell them I know all of you did your best and I believe that your collective efforts will save the Base from destruction. Over to you.” After the expected 12 second lag, he got a reply.
“Thanks, Admiral. That got pretty hairy there for a little while. We’ll be glad to get home. Over to you.”
“And we’ll be glad to have you back. Shiloh clear.”
Switching channels, Shiloh said, “Admiral to all carriers. Our fighters are on their way back. Let’s recover them asap. Shiloh clear.”
3rd Fleet was still coasting towards the Base moon and Shiloh was content to leave it that way until he learned the outcome of the last phase of the battle. The reduced enemy fleet was already catching up to the first wave of ship-launched recon drones and they lasted long enough to reveal that the enemy was once again changing course slightly. They’re going to keep on changing course because they have no way of knowing that we’ve deployed additional waves of recon drones along their path, thought Shiloh. With the need for split second commands now past, he deactivated and removed the Command Helmet and the gloves. The noise level on the Bridge was low. Personnel were speaking in low tones into their mics while they watched the main display. As the enemy fleet reached each wave of recon drones, its new position and course were updated. Shiloh got up and walked to stand closer to the display. Tanaka was anticipating his wishes and caused the display to zoom out so that they could anticipate the interception attempt, which would also happen very quickly.
The enemy force was now encountering the string of recon drones fired by Korolev’s fighter group. Those fighters had placed themselves close enough to the projected path that their attack drones would be coming at the enemy ships from almost head on and therefore would be difficult to detect by radar and hit with laser fire. The actually interception happened in less than a blink of an eye. 16 enemy ships destroyed. 9 of Korolev’s 10 fighters were also destroyed. 2 enemy ships successfully ran the gauntlet. In less than a minute, they ran across a skirmish line of recon drones fired from the Base itself and Shiloh relaxed. The two remaining bogey’s were clearly aiming to fly past the base moon rather than smash into the base in a kamikaze attack. They would fire lasers at the base during their fly by and that would account for the damage that Korolev told Shiloh about in the vision. Shiloh doubted very much that those two ships would return. Not only would it require a massive amount of fuel just to decelerate to zero and then accelerate back the other way again, but they had to know that they’d face all of the fighters left over from the first encounter with no hope at all of surviving that battle. It made far more sense to use their remaining fuel to jump back home and report.
It took several minutes to confirm that the last two bogeys had flown past and fired lasers at the metal dome that covered the Base. When Korolev’s video transmission reached 3rd Fleet, she said,
“Admiral, we’re okay. Damage to the Base is serious but not critical. We won’t have to abandon the Base thanks to your warning. I still don’t know why you decided to deploy those recon drones when you did but if you hadn’t, I and a lot of others would most likely be dead now. Even so, we did lose 12 people due to decompression and laser blast effects but it could have been much, much worse.”
Don’t forget the 8 A.I.s that gave their lives too, thought Shiloh.
“I hope 3rd Fleet will stick around for a while. I’d be surprised if those last two bastards come back but you never know, do you? Korolev clear.”
Shiloh thought that she probably expected him to reply but he didn’t feel like it right now. He walked over to the Communications Station and nodded to the com tech.
“Patch me through to all our ships, please.” When that was done, the com tech looked up at him and nodded, and Shiloh began to speak.
“This is the Admiral. Bradley Base has suffered some damage but the enemy failed to destroy it completely and 3rd Fleet can take a lot of the credit for that. I’m especially proud of our fighter squadron pilots. I’ll be recommending to the Top Brass that each squadron receive a unit citation. It appears that the battle is now over. All ships can stand down from Battle Stations. 3rd Fleet will stay in orbit around Bradley Base for at least 24 hours and then we’ll resume our course for Sol. We’ve all done well today and I want you to pass that on to your crews. That’s all for now. Shiloh clear.”
The rest of the Fleet’s stay at Bradley Base was refreshingly peaceful. Korolev didn’t mention her refusal to follow Shiloh’s instructions and he decided to not make an issue out of it. He did refuse her request to detach a dozen fighters from one of his squadrons to make good on her fighter losses. She still had 15 fighters left that had been on jump detection patrol and too far away to get into the fight in time, so it wasn’t as though he was leaving the Base completely defenseless. VF002 has suffered losses too and Shiloh was loathe to gut that squadron even more and wanted to keep the other two squadrons intact as well. She clearly didn’t like that decision but wisely decided not to push her luck.